Stop The Presses!
The Balance Center Is Now Open!
A Physical Therapy Clinic Dedicated To Balance
Scarborough, ME, March 21st, 2017 - The Maine Strong Balance Center offers a unique approach, with unique equipment, in a unique space all dedicated to meet the balance needs of our community.
“We pride ourselves in being honest and authentic in our interactions and we will strive to make everyone who comes through our door, no matter their challenges…STRONG.”
In my experience working as a physical therapist across essentially every healthcare setting, it has become clear that there is an underserved, explosively growing population in Maine.
The underserved population is those who live in the community with balance difficulties. As we age, balance is the key to independence and quality of life. Impaired balance restricts someone’s ability to access the community or even stay in their own home. Worse, poor balance leads to falls which according to the CDC are the leading cause of injury for geriatric patients1.
This underserved population is quite sizeable. The population of Mainers over the age of 65 is estimated to almost double between the years of 2010 and 20302. Of this large and growing group, each year approximately 1 out of every 3 persons will experience a fall3 and many others in this group are restricting their activities due to fear of falling.
Falls are not only costly to the patient, but they are expensive. Falls are among the top 20 most expensive medical conditions, costing Medicare over $30 billion dollars annually with an average hospital cost of $30,000 per fall1.
The Maine Strong Balance Center is an outpatient Physical Therapy Clinic dedicated to treating balance. Our goal is to help our community members stay on their feet in order to improve their lives and reduce the financial burden on the healthcare system.
We have developed a unique approach to treating balance which involves over a dozen testing stations where we achieve a complete review of all systems that contribute to balance. Our stations include everything from video analysis of gait to standard strength testing. We then analyze this data to produce a balance score and predict fall risk. Our mission from there is to reduce the patient’s score and minimize their fall risk via evidenced based treatments of these contributing systems.
We have unique treatment equipment dedicated to improving balance in order to achieve these goals. Equipment includes a harness suspension system, parallel bars, a large hi-low mat and dozens of other pieces of balance equipment.
We have a unique space dedicated to balance. Balance training requires open spaces, and our gym area is open to allow for this as opposed to the typical outpatient PT practice full of tables and partitions. We have a pool on site to allow for aquatic therapy, which is often a valuable tool for strengthening work for someone limited by pain on land.
We truly look forward to meeting the needs of our community members, and appreciate the opportunity to serve your patients.
Sincerely, Jason Adour, PT
President of Maine Strong Balance Center